I am a Model 3 reservation holder (online 3/31/16). I live in San Jose, CA and neither work for Tesla or already own one. So basically the only thing going for me to get one ASAP is that I'm local to the factory. I recently had the chance to sit inside one at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto. After waiting about 90 minutes, I got maybe 4-5 minutes inside, enough time for asking a few basic questions. When I left, I thought it was time to see how well one drove. Since none of the stores are offering test drives yet, that led me to Turo.com. I looked around and found several 3s that were nearby. They averaged about $200 per day; a little steep but understand that it's a seller's market right now. I decided upon a 3-day rental period from Thursday night to Sunday night. That would give me one day to drive during commute time and the entire weekend to cruise around. The model that I had the chance to drive came with the Long Range Battery, Premium Upgrade Package, Pearl White paint, 18" wheels and Enhanced Autopilot.
Pros:
- Instant torque. I'm presuming that the majority of the forum readers already know what I'm talking about. For the people who have yet to drive or ride in a Tesla, that essentially means instant acceleration. No delay in putting your foot down and getting the car to respond. 0-60mph in a Model 3 is supposed to be around 5 seconds. I didn't do any full-throttle, standing start runs but I think that 0-60 time is justified. Of more importance to me in real-world conditions is the 45-65mph performance/time. Think of entering a highway from an on-ramp. Seeing a break in traffic and being able to put your car into that spot. This car had absolutely no problems in that regard. About a year ago I test drove an S P100D for around 40 minutes on both city streets and the highway. While the 3 obviously can't match the acceleration of the S, I think that the performance for the money, the so-called "bang-for-the-buck", is quite reasonable.
- Handling was great. My current ride is a 2000 BMW 323i. Bought new, I haven't changed any of the drivetrain or suspension components so far (besides tires). Which means I'm riding on an 18-year old platform so maybe my impressions are tainted. But my memory of how the Bimmer handled when new, is just like the Model 3 is now. Flat around corners, minimal body lean. Steering inputs were precise and quick. I left the steering option on the "Standard" setting while I had the car. When I returned the 3 and started driving my BMW again I noticed that the turning effort was a little harder than the Tesla. During the weekend I took the 3 over the hill to Santa Cruz. SF Bay residents know that means Highway 17. For those of you who are not familiar with this drive, it is a four-lane road that is designated as a highway (in most places). It's twisty, rises from Los Gatos (elevation is 344') up to the summit at 1808' in the distance of 7 miles and is great fun to drive in a car that was designed to be driven. The downward run from the summit to the Pacific Ocean in Santa Cruz is about twice as long but about as twisty in the first half. Here's a YouTube video that I found that shows the road:
The video starts out near Santa Clara University, on The Alameda near I-880 (which turns into Hwy 17). The route I took started from the junction of Highways 85 and 17.
- Headlights. I liked the fact that I could fiddle with the aiming of the headlights using the thumbwheels on the steering wheel. I know it said that factory technicians should only perform the adjustment but if there's an option displayed on the UI, then I'm going to take advantage of it. Headlights were bright and evenly lit across the field in front of the car. These LEDs appear to brighter than my Xenon lamps on the BMW (I've replaced one bulb, the other is still the original).
Honorable mention:
- Interior room and comfort. I'm 5-5 so there was nothing about the interior space that was a negative. Seating position in the driver's seat was completely adjustable to my satisfaction. I especially liked the way that the thumbwheels were used to control the position of the steering wheel. I drove from San Jose up towards San Francisco on I-280 twice to see how a (fairly) long highway drive would feel. Seat was comfortable, providing good support for my back and hips (I have a slight case of sciatica). I think I could see myself driving a 3 for several hours at a time without any problems. While I didn't get to ride around in the back seat, I did get a chance to sit in them. My only possible negative was that the seat is fairly low to the floor so that means if I put my feet flat on the floor, my upper leg (hip-to-knee) is at about a 40 degree angle. There didn't seem to be enough room to put my feet completely under the front seats but it did lessen the angle of my thighs. Headroom both front and back was good, but then again I'm short.
- Storage space. With the back seats down there is plenty of room. Can it carry an adult bicycle? I didn't try to put mine in there but it looks like it could fit. More importantly to me is that it seemed to have about as much room as my 323i (11 cubic feet). More, with the storage area under the floor panel. The frunk looked fine for carrying a couple of grocery bags. There were clips that could be used to wrap the handles of said grocery bags around so they won't go flying about.
- Sound system. I basically only listened to FM HD radio during my time with the car. I found the graphic equalizer controls to be handy but could barely discern the differences between the various "ambience" settings. Plenty of volume was available but I didn't try rolling down all of the windows during a highway drive.
- Autopilot. I enabled the Autopilot during my I-280 runs and found it to be quite adequate. It changed lanes when I activated the turn signals. It kept the car in the lane as it slowly curved and maintained a respectable following distance to the vehicle in front. All of those things said, I'm still not going to order it for my car. Sorry but I don't subscribe to the notion of autonomous vehicles quite yet. If it ever gets to the point where I need help driving my own car, I'll hang up the keys (smartphone?) and depend on Uber or Lyft or whatever service is around then.
- Voice control. I don't know the full capabilities of this function but I did try using the "Navigate to" command and it performed accurately. Beats having to type in addresses onto the touchscreen.
Cons:
- I'll start off with the biggest one on my list: the lack of support for CHAdeMO chargers. I work where there are several ChargePoint DC Fast stations installed in the parking garage, each with an attached CHAdeMO-to-Tesla adapter. Before renting the 3 I took a quick look around at work and saw that there were several Model S cars being charged at these stations. I thought, "Great, no problem with charging. I'll use the 75 free minutes employees are given and get close to a 'full tank'". Well, while the factory supports this adapter for the Model S, and I believe the X as well, it's AWOL for the moment for the Model 3.
- Rear view at night. Both looking out the back window and using the side mirrors. The rearward view is pretty narrow due to the high trunk lid. I think that this has been mentioned before in other reviews I've read. During the day it's not too bad and I could get used to not seeing the hood of the car behind me when stopped at a light. But at night, the view was "hazy". I think it was due to the tinting of the window. It was almost like looking out of a badly-applied window tint (film) that had air bubbles. An additional concern of mine is that the outside side mirrors are tinted at night with no apparent way to disable this function in the UI. I like being able to see minor variations in light during the night if/when a car is in my blind spots. Their headlights won't 'blind' me as I'm not looking directly into them ALL THE TIME. It's sufficient enough to see a light in my peripheral vision that tells me that there's something there. With auto dimming mirrors it cuts down the light so much that I'm constantly having to looking directly at the mirror and figure out if that's a headlight or merely a reflection in the passenger window. If this isn't fixed with an OTA update by the time I get my car, I'm probably going to trace the wire to the mirror that supplies the power and disconnect it.
- Windshield wiper control. As I arranged to have the car during mostly clear skies, I only had a couple of chances to use the wipers. I believe that there is an "automatic" mode but I didn't need to use it. For the times that I wanted the turn the wipers on manually, I found having to look at the screen and slide/tap a bit distracting. I later found out that the turn signal stalk had manual controls to activate the wipers and washer. But if I read correctly, only a single sweep is possible using the button on the stalk; noting to put the wipers on 'slow' or 'fast' speed permanently.
- The front windshield had a "ripple" on the passenger side. The imperfection was noticeable as a slight distortion when scanning the outside scene from side-to-side. My guess is that the moulding process was not entirely even. I understand that this is a common problem with automotive glass. I would have thought that this defect would have been caught at the factory, before delivery.
- Charging port cover. The several times that I was charging the car, I thought about the cover that was sitting up in the air, exposed. It's on the end of a curved plastic (?) arm that swings up from the tail light and it just seems to be an invitation for knocking it off the car.
- Fairly rough ride. This one is kind of a marginal 'con'. I enjoyed the handling of the car going around corners but it felt like every rock and pothole in the road was amplified onto my butt. Maybe the 45psi tire pressure has a something to do with it?
- No CD changer. Call me old-fashioned but I still like the idea of having a 6 (or 12) disc CD changer available. I guess I'll eventually get used to the idea of MP3 files on a USB thumbdrive (which is not susceptible to vibrations or heat) but for some of us "old-fogies" who have taken the time to burn compilations of favorite songs onto CD-R, I miss shuffling CDs around.
Overall I'm very happy with the car and can't wait to get my hands on my own.
Pros:
- Instant torque. I'm presuming that the majority of the forum readers already know what I'm talking about. For the people who have yet to drive or ride in a Tesla, that essentially means instant acceleration. No delay in putting your foot down and getting the car to respond. 0-60mph in a Model 3 is supposed to be around 5 seconds. I didn't do any full-throttle, standing start runs but I think that 0-60 time is justified. Of more importance to me in real-world conditions is the 45-65mph performance/time. Think of entering a highway from an on-ramp. Seeing a break in traffic and being able to put your car into that spot. This car had absolutely no problems in that regard. About a year ago I test drove an S P100D for around 40 minutes on both city streets and the highway. While the 3 obviously can't match the acceleration of the S, I think that the performance for the money, the so-called "bang-for-the-buck", is quite reasonable.
- Handling was great. My current ride is a 2000 BMW 323i. Bought new, I haven't changed any of the drivetrain or suspension components so far (besides tires). Which means I'm riding on an 18-year old platform so maybe my impressions are tainted. But my memory of how the Bimmer handled when new, is just like the Model 3 is now. Flat around corners, minimal body lean. Steering inputs were precise and quick. I left the steering option on the "Standard" setting while I had the car. When I returned the 3 and started driving my BMW again I noticed that the turning effort was a little harder than the Tesla. During the weekend I took the 3 over the hill to Santa Cruz. SF Bay residents know that means Highway 17. For those of you who are not familiar with this drive, it is a four-lane road that is designated as a highway (in most places). It's twisty, rises from Los Gatos (elevation is 344') up to the summit at 1808' in the distance of 7 miles and is great fun to drive in a car that was designed to be driven. The downward run from the summit to the Pacific Ocean in Santa Cruz is about twice as long but about as twisty in the first half. Here's a YouTube video that I found that shows the road:
- Headlights. I liked the fact that I could fiddle with the aiming of the headlights using the thumbwheels on the steering wheel. I know it said that factory technicians should only perform the adjustment but if there's an option displayed on the UI, then I'm going to take advantage of it. Headlights were bright and evenly lit across the field in front of the car. These LEDs appear to brighter than my Xenon lamps on the BMW (I've replaced one bulb, the other is still the original).
Honorable mention:
- Interior room and comfort. I'm 5-5 so there was nothing about the interior space that was a negative. Seating position in the driver's seat was completely adjustable to my satisfaction. I especially liked the way that the thumbwheels were used to control the position of the steering wheel. I drove from San Jose up towards San Francisco on I-280 twice to see how a (fairly) long highway drive would feel. Seat was comfortable, providing good support for my back and hips (I have a slight case of sciatica). I think I could see myself driving a 3 for several hours at a time without any problems. While I didn't get to ride around in the back seat, I did get a chance to sit in them. My only possible negative was that the seat is fairly low to the floor so that means if I put my feet flat on the floor, my upper leg (hip-to-knee) is at about a 40 degree angle. There didn't seem to be enough room to put my feet completely under the front seats but it did lessen the angle of my thighs. Headroom both front and back was good, but then again I'm short.
- Storage space. With the back seats down there is plenty of room. Can it carry an adult bicycle? I didn't try to put mine in there but it looks like it could fit. More importantly to me is that it seemed to have about as much room as my 323i (11 cubic feet). More, with the storage area under the floor panel. The frunk looked fine for carrying a couple of grocery bags. There were clips that could be used to wrap the handles of said grocery bags around so they won't go flying about.
- Sound system. I basically only listened to FM HD radio during my time with the car. I found the graphic equalizer controls to be handy but could barely discern the differences between the various "ambience" settings. Plenty of volume was available but I didn't try rolling down all of the windows during a highway drive.
- Autopilot. I enabled the Autopilot during my I-280 runs and found it to be quite adequate. It changed lanes when I activated the turn signals. It kept the car in the lane as it slowly curved and maintained a respectable following distance to the vehicle in front. All of those things said, I'm still not going to order it for my car. Sorry but I don't subscribe to the notion of autonomous vehicles quite yet. If it ever gets to the point where I need help driving my own car, I'll hang up the keys (smartphone?) and depend on Uber or Lyft or whatever service is around then.
- Voice control. I don't know the full capabilities of this function but I did try using the "Navigate to" command and it performed accurately. Beats having to type in addresses onto the touchscreen.
Cons:
- I'll start off with the biggest one on my list: the lack of support for CHAdeMO chargers. I work where there are several ChargePoint DC Fast stations installed in the parking garage, each with an attached CHAdeMO-to-Tesla adapter. Before renting the 3 I took a quick look around at work and saw that there were several Model S cars being charged at these stations. I thought, "Great, no problem with charging. I'll use the 75 free minutes employees are given and get close to a 'full tank'". Well, while the factory supports this adapter for the Model S, and I believe the X as well, it's AWOL for the moment for the Model 3.
- Rear view at night. Both looking out the back window and using the side mirrors. The rearward view is pretty narrow due to the high trunk lid. I think that this has been mentioned before in other reviews I've read. During the day it's not too bad and I could get used to not seeing the hood of the car behind me when stopped at a light. But at night, the view was "hazy". I think it was due to the tinting of the window. It was almost like looking out of a badly-applied window tint (film) that had air bubbles. An additional concern of mine is that the outside side mirrors are tinted at night with no apparent way to disable this function in the UI. I like being able to see minor variations in light during the night if/when a car is in my blind spots. Their headlights won't 'blind' me as I'm not looking directly into them ALL THE TIME. It's sufficient enough to see a light in my peripheral vision that tells me that there's something there. With auto dimming mirrors it cuts down the light so much that I'm constantly having to looking directly at the mirror and figure out if that's a headlight or merely a reflection in the passenger window. If this isn't fixed with an OTA update by the time I get my car, I'm probably going to trace the wire to the mirror that supplies the power and disconnect it.
- Windshield wiper control. As I arranged to have the car during mostly clear skies, I only had a couple of chances to use the wipers. I believe that there is an "automatic" mode but I didn't need to use it. For the times that I wanted the turn the wipers on manually, I found having to look at the screen and slide/tap a bit distracting. I later found out that the turn signal stalk had manual controls to activate the wipers and washer. But if I read correctly, only a single sweep is possible using the button on the stalk; noting to put the wipers on 'slow' or 'fast' speed permanently.
- The front windshield had a "ripple" on the passenger side. The imperfection was noticeable as a slight distortion when scanning the outside scene from side-to-side. My guess is that the moulding process was not entirely even. I understand that this is a common problem with automotive glass. I would have thought that this defect would have been caught at the factory, before delivery.
- Charging port cover. The several times that I was charging the car, I thought about the cover that was sitting up in the air, exposed. It's on the end of a curved plastic (?) arm that swings up from the tail light and it just seems to be an invitation for knocking it off the car.
- Fairly rough ride. This one is kind of a marginal 'con'. I enjoyed the handling of the car going around corners but it felt like every rock and pothole in the road was amplified onto my butt. Maybe the 45psi tire pressure has a something to do with it?
- No CD changer. Call me old-fashioned but I still like the idea of having a 6 (or 12) disc CD changer available. I guess I'll eventually get used to the idea of MP3 files on a USB thumbdrive (which is not susceptible to vibrations or heat) but for some of us "old-fogies" who have taken the time to burn compilations of favorite songs onto CD-R, I miss shuffling CDs around.
Overall I'm very happy with the car and can't wait to get my hands on my own.
